Tafsir at-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan - Dar al-Tarbiyah wa al-Turath Edition

Volume 1 · Page 324

Translation · EN

AI translation

polytheism (shirk) (1). And had the parable been for someone who believed with true faith (īmān) and then openly declared disbelief (kufr) in truth—according to what was thought by the interpreter of the statement of Allah—exalted be His praise: {as the parable of one who kindled a fire; then, when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, unable to see}, namely that the light of the fire is a parable for their faith that was valid in his view, and that the going away of their light is a parable for their apostasy (ridda) and open declaration of disbelief in truth—there would not have been (2) any deception on the part of the people, nor mockery in their own minds, nor hypocrisy (nifāq). And how could there be deception and hypocrisy from someone who displayed to you no statement or action except that which obliged your knowledge of his actual state toward you and the true resolve of his soul upon which he remains? This is beyond doubt far removed from hypocrisy and free from deception. And since the people had only two states (3): a state of apparent faith and a state of manifest disbelief, the name of hypocrisy would fall away from the people, because in their state of true faith they were believers, and in their state of true disbelief they were disbelievers, and there would be no third state in which they were hypocrites.

And in Allah's—exalted be His praise—description of them with the attribute of hypocrisy, there is that which indicates that the matter is different from what was claimed by whoever claimed that the people were believers, then apostatized to disbelief and persisted upon it—unless the one saying that intended that they moved from their faith upon which they were to the disbelief that is hypocrisy. And that is a statement which, if asserted, its validity cannot be known except through a mass-transmitted report or through logical senses requiring its validity. As for the apparent meaning of the Book, there is no indication of its validity, because it admits an interpretation (ta'wīl) that is more appropriate for it than that.

Since the matter is as we have described in that regard, the most proper interpretation (ta'wīl) of the verse by the verse is: the parable of the hypocrites seeking light—by what they manifested with their tongues to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, of affirming him, and their saying to him and to the believers: "We believe in Allah, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day," until they were judged thereby

Notes

(1) In the printed edition: "meaning, not those who openly display", and in the manuscript: "those who openly display disbelief". The context of his phrasing is: "Allah only struck this parable for the hypocrites... not those who openly display disbelief."
(2) The context is: "If the parable had been for someone who believed with true faith... there would not have been among the people..."
(3) In the printed edition: "If the people were...", which is an error.

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Arabic (Source)

بالشرْك (١) . ولو كان المثل لمن آمنَ إيمانًا صحيحًا ثم أعلن بالكفر إعلانا صحيحًا - على ما ظنّ المتأول قولَ الله جل ثناؤه: (كمثل الذي استوقدَ نارًا فلما أضاءَتْ ما حولَه ذهبَ الله بنورهم وتركهم في ظلمات لا يبصرون) : أن ضوءَ النار مثلٌ لإيمانهم الذي كان منهم عندَهُ على صحةٍ، وأن ذهاب نورهم مثلٌ لارتدادهم وإعلانهم الكفر على صحة - لم يكن (٢) . هناك من القوم خداعٌ ولا استهزاءٌ عند أنفسهم ولا نفاقٌ. وأنَّى يكون خداعٌ ونفاقٌ ممن لم يُبد لك قولا ولا فعلا إلا ما أوجبَ لك العلم بحاله التي هو لك عليها، وبعزيمة نفسه التي هو مقيم عليها؟ إنّ هذا بغير شَكّ من النفاق بَعيدٌ، ومن الخداع بريءٌ. وإذْ كان القومُ لم تكن لهم إلا حالتان (٣) : حالُ إيمان ظاهر، وحال كفر طاهر، فقد سقط عن القوم اسمُ النفاق. لأنهم في حال إيمانهم الصحيح كانوا مؤمنين، وفي حال كفرهم الصحيح كانوا كافرين. ولا حالةَ هناك ثالثةً كانوا بها منافقين.وفي وَصْف الله جل ثناؤه إياهم بصفة النفاق، ما ينبئ عن أن القول غيرُ القول الذي زعمه من زَعم: أن القوم كانوا مؤمنين، ثم ارتدوا إلى الكفر فأقاموا عليه، إلا أنْ يكون قائلُ ذلك أراد أنهم انتقلوا من إيمانهم الذي كانوا عليه، إلى الكفر الذي هو نفاق. وذلك قولٌ إن قاله، لم تُدرَك صحته إلا بخبر مستفيض، أو ببعض المعاني الموجبة صحتَه. فأما في ظاهر الكتاب فلا دلالة على صحته، لاحتماله من التأويل ما هو أولى به منه.فإذْ كان الأمر على ما وصفنا في ذلك، فأولى تأويلات الآية بالآية: مثل استضاءَة المنافقين - بما أظهروا بألسنتهم لرسول الله ﷺ من الإقرار به، وقولهم له وللمؤمنين: آمنَّا بالله وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر، حتى حُكم لهم بذلك

Notes

(١) في المطبوعة: "أي، لا المعلنين"، وفي المخطوطة: "المعالنين بالكفر"، وسياق عبارته"إنما ضرب الله هذا المثل للمنافقين. . لا المعلنين بالكفر".(٢) السياق: "ولو كان المثل لمن آمن إيمانًا صحيحًا. . لم يكن هنالك من القوم. . "(٣) في المطبوعة: "فإن كان القوم. . . "، وهو خطأ.